The Forum was opened on 20 June 2001 in Mlimani Conference Centre by Hon. Mizengo Peter Pinda, Prime Minister of the United Republic of Tanzania, and Hon. Hawa Abdulrahman Ghazia, MP, Minister of State, President’s Office, Public Service Management of Tanzania. The Forum’s theme this year is "Transformative Leadership in Public Administration and Innovation in Governance: Creating a Better Life for All".

The United Nations Public Service Forum is a unique capacity-building global event on public governance that provides a platform to explore, discuss and learn about:

• emerging challenges, issues and trends in public governance
• innovative practices to address these challenges
• capacity development strategies, approaches and tools - how can we learn from these practices and what tools are available or can we develop to move forward?

Every year the Forum focuses on a specific critical area of public governance, and explores its different dimensions and components in an organic way. The Forum brings together world leaders, policy-makers, practitioners, innovators in governance, representatives of international and regional organizations, the academia, non-profit organizations and the private sector. The Forum is uniquely positioned to benefit from the first-class innovative practices of the winners of the prestigious United Nations Public Service Awards who are recognized for their achievements on the last day of this high-level event, which also coincides with United Nations Public Service Day and Africa Public Service Day. The General Assembly, by its resolution A/RES/57/277, designated 23 June as the United Nations Public Service Day to "celebrate the value and virtue of service to the community".

This year, the Forum, which will focus on the theme of "Transformative Leadership in Public Administration and Innovation in Governance: Creating a Better Life for All" is taking place in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania from 20 to 23 June 2011. It is organized by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), Division for Public Administration and Development Management (DPADM) in collaboration with the African Union Commission (AUC), and in partnership with the President's Office of the United Republic of Tanzania and Government of Tanzania, which is hosting the event, United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN- Women), and with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Tanzania.

Mr. Ban Ki Moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations; Mr. Sha Zukang, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs; and Ms. Haiyan Qian, Director of the Division for Public Administration and Development Management, delivered their video message to the Forum participants.

The first day of the Forum included:

• the Opening Ceremony
• the Keynote Speech: “Transformative Leadership in Public Administration and Innovation in Governance” by Hon. Dalmas Otieno Anyango, Egh., Mp., Chairperson of the Pan Africa Conference of Ministers of Public Service Minister of State for Public Service (Kenya)
• three Plenary Sessions
  • Governance and Public Administration in Africa
  • Promoting Integrity in Leadership and Transforming Mindsets in Public Governance: A Global Perspective
  • Promoting Citizen Participation and Innovation in Public Service Delivery: A New Paradigm Shift in Creating Public Value”
• Introduction to the Capacity-Building Workshops
  • Leading with Integrity and Inventiveness in Public Governance
  • Engaging Citizens and Civil Society Organizations to Promote Effectiveness, Accountability and Transparency in Reconstruction and Recovery Strategies after Natural Disasters
  • African e-Leadership Capacity-Building
  • Leading Innovations in Gender-Responsive Service Delivery
• Global, African and Tanzanian Innovators’ Exhibition at Mnazi Mmoja Grounds.

Representatives of the Institute of the Information Society Yuri Hohlov, Chairman of the IIS Board, and Tatiana Ershova, IIS General Director, have joined the Forum as participants of two workshops: “Engaging Citizens and Civil Society Organizations to Promote Effectiveness, Accountability and Transparency in Reconstruction and Recovery Strategies after Natural Disasters” and “African e-Leadership Capacity-Building”.